


Change of scenery

by UpInOrbit



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hyuck is famous, I might go on a rant about "scandals" tho, M/M, Scandal, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, but I swear it's fluff, small town
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21826495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpInOrbit/pseuds/UpInOrbit
Summary: How to be a shadow when you’re always in the spotlight?Hyuck needed a clean break and that he does, leaving behind him his entire life and the public in uproar. Farm towns aren’t really his thing, but Hyuck doesn’t care, not as long as no one knows who he is, not even the cute blond boy with a huge heart and a too-adventurous cat.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61
Collections: DreamXmas 2019





	Change of scenery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eab5c5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eab5c5/gifts).



> First things first, thank you so much to the mods who made this fest possible and to Jewel, for coming up with such lovely prompts! I had never done a secret santa like this before and it has been quite an experience, so thank you for making it possible!  
> As soon as I saw a Nohyuck I knew I'd have to write it, so I hope I've managed to make the prompt justice and that you will enjoy it!

The air felt different at the town.

Hyuck had always heard the air in the countryside was better, less polluted, and that was why so many people loved going to small towns such as the one he was in at that moment. It was true that something felt different there, but if he had been asked about it, Hyuck would not have been able to identify what was it that made it different. Could have been the better quality of the air he was breathing in or maybe it had more to do with him, with the way he felt more at ease there than he had back in the city.

He hadn't been staying in the town for long, and while the first days had been tough, and he had barely gotten out of the house, he had to admit he felt more relaxed then than he had in ages. He no longer left the house gripping his phone like it was a landline, fingers ready to dial the number that would get him out of there if things went south. 

Instead, for the first time in what probably had been years, he was finally able to take a stroll through the streets and enjoy it.

The town was nice. Truth be told, it was a fairly unimportant village, a farm town close enough to the city but not too much, beautiful and rustic but not overly so, not in a way that attracted strangers. 

It was just an average town, which was what had drawn Hyuck to it at first.

It wasn't what had made him stay, though. No, what had made him decide to move there, at least for the time being, was not the better quality of the air or the beautiful scenery or nice food, or whatever reason one could have to move there. No, what had made him stay was the wonderful, blissful anonymity that came with the town.

No one knew who he was and, if they did, no one cared. He was not Donghyuck, famous singer and composer, nation's heartthrob. He was just Hyuck, the new neighbour who had moved into the house at the end of the road. He was another face among the crowd, someone people said hello to in the passing, but on whom eyes didn’t linger.

At least, it had been that way until then.

Hyuck felt his heart rate picking up as he saw a man walking towards him. He moved with purpose, and even from afar Hyuck could tell he was attractive, dyed blonde hair framing a handsome face. 

It wasn’t that why he had started to feel nervous, though. He had never met that guy, he was sure of it, would have never forgotten a face like his if he had, but the guy’s eyes were fixated on his face, and he was squinting at him, as if trying to place Hyuck and recall where he had seen him.

The distance between them became smaller and Hyuck’s palms started to sweat. A part of him resented the stranger, for he knew that with recognition came exposure and then he wouldn’t be able to live in peace. 

The town would then be swarming with reporters, all trying to sneak in an unflattering or compromising picture of Hyuck to blow it out of proportion, or even “fans”, attempting to attract his attention while shoving their phones in his face. (Hyuck liked his fans very much, he adored them all, but he refused to refer to those people as any other thing than what they really were, ‘stalkers’).

He cursed himself for not bringing a mask with him, even if it was too hot to wear one without feeling uncomfortable, and briefly considered turning around on his heels. Ultimately, he decided against it, not wanting to attract anymore attention to him.

After all, there was still the possibility that the man was not going to say anything to him.

That fantasy came crashing down when Hyuck walked past the man, head hanging low, and was stopped by a hand gripping at his arm.

Hyuck looked up to find the stranger already staring at him with a rather stony expression. However, that soon melted away, replaced by a blinding smile and eyes that turned into little crescent moons.

Taken aback, Hyuck could do nothing but stare in awe at first, and didn’t even think of breaking free from the other’s hold.

“Hello!” The stranger said cheerily and Hyuck found himself taken aback by his deep voice. It took him a couple of seconds to regain his bearings and be able to reply to him.

“Hi,” cautiously, Hyuck waited to see what the stranger would do next, worried that he’d ask for something he couldn’t give. He hoped he’d be lucky, even just that one time.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Hyuck’s heart fell to his feet and he steeled himself for what was to come, “but I saw you and I had to come and say hi. You’re the one that has moved to the house, right?”

Hyuck blinked, confused, and then blinked again.

“Excuse me?”

The stranger’s smile grew bigger, even if his ears started turning a bit red.

“Yeah, the house at the end of the street! Jaemin’s house, you’re the new tenant, aren’t you?”

“Oh,” Hyuck replied, everything falling into place. “Oh yes, that’s me! I’m really sorry, I didn’t understand you at first,” he said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Ah, no, don’t worry! It was my fault for being so cryptic, we don’t get a lot of strangers around so I didn’t really think about it,” the stranger scratched his neck, the blush deepening. Hyuck found himself smiling wider than before. “You must have been so confused, I’m really sorry…?”

“Hyuck,” he rushed to add, and the stranger nodded, smile never leaving his face. “And seriously, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s so embarrassing, please, I’m so sorry, let’s just forget this all happened. It’s just that I’m good friends with the owner and I hadn’t seen you since you moved in so I wanted to welcome you to our town but I completely forgot you didn’t know who I am,” the stranger added, and Hyuck let out a short laugh. It seemed to brighten the other up, who then extended his hand. “I’m Jeno, by the way.”

Hyuck took Jeno’s hand and shook it once.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Jeno.”

“I hope you’ll like it here in your town. It’s not as exciting as the city, I’m sure, but it’s still really nice!”

Hyuck grinned with his brightest smile, the one that never failed to make his fans scream and lose their minds. Sure enough, it made Jeno’s breath hitch slightly, even if he managed to disguise it pretty well.

“I’m sure I will. I was about to go take a look around it, in fact.”

Hyuck had half expected Jeno to take that as a subtle end to the conversation, so he was surprised when he didn’t. It wasn’t that he didn’t like talking to him, rather than he didn’t feel in the mood to do so right then, but when Jeno’s smile dimmed a little, turning a bit awkward, Hyuck wondered if he had done something wrong.

“Eh, about that,” Jeno went back to scratching his neck and Hyuck frowned. “I actually kind of wanted to ask you for a favor?” Hyuck felt his walls rising once again. “My cat, Bongshik, she’s lost. Well, not exactly lost, but she’s gone.”

“Your cat is lost,” Hyuck repeated, slowly, under Jeno’s expectant gaze. 

Jeno nodded, reminding Hyuck of an overexcited puppy.

“My cat. She’s old and she tends to stay home but today I let the window open and she snuck out like she did when she was younger,” Hyuck nodded, unsure of where Jeno was going with all that. “I think she misses Jaemin and went out to see him, the problem is that Jaemin left town.”

“That’s sad, I guess, but I’m not sure how can I possibly help you,” Hyuck replied carefully.

“I think she might have gone to your house,” Jeno admitted then, a sheepish look on your face. “So would you mind if I went over and took a look?” 

Hyuck was rendered speechless. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help Jeno, but the idea of letting a stranger in his new house unsettled him, to say the least. Who was to say Jeno wasn’t lying to him and would take advantage of Hyuck’s kind heart? Jeno was bigger and stronger than Hyuck and while he looked positively harmless, weirder things have happened. Hell, Jeno’s cat might not be even real.

Jeno must have seen Hyuck’s hesitation written all over his face for, before Hyuck had a chance to reject him, he fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. He waved it in front of Hyuck’s face, so close to him that Hyuck had to wrap his hand around Jeno’s arm to keep him steady and be able to see what Jeno was showing him: it was a picture of Jeno, looking straight into the camera, while holding a white and grey cat. It seemed like quite an old picture, judging by how young Jeno looked in it.

“This is Bongshik, she’s been with me since forever,” Jeno said, before freeing himself from Hyuck’s grip and quickly opening his phone’s gallery. He scrolled down and opened a folder full of pictures. “See? This is her with Nal and Seol,” as he spoke, Jeno started showing picture after picture of his cats, and Hyuck briefly wondered how they had gotten to that point, head spinning with the overflow of information.

“Okay,” he agreed, interrupting Jeno mid-sentence. Jeno stared at him with his eyes wide open, mouth hanging slightly. “Let’s go see if Bongshik is in my house.”

Common sense said that, even if Jeno had a trillion pictures of his cats in his phone, he could still be dangerous but Hyuck tried to push that thought aside. Jeno didn’t seem to pose that much of a threat, anyway, and maybe, just maybe, Hyuck was a tad bit lonely and longed for someone to speak to, other than Mark. He had become used to distrust those around him but, for once, his gut told him there was little to worry about, and Hyuck decided to roll with it.

The walk back to Hyuck’s house wasn’t long, but at first it was a little awkward. Hyuck could talk someone’s ear off but he was still trying to regain his footing and go back to his usual self, and Jeno was virtually a stranger. Thankfully for both, Jeno seemed to feel his uncertainty and decided to fill the silence by himself, talking about his cats. Jeno’s eyes sparkled as he told Hyuck little anecdotes and memories and Hyuck couldn’t help but coo internally at how adorable Jeno looked like that. 

As much as he spoke, Jeno never asked Hyuck any personal questions, as if he sensed those wouldn’t be exactly welcomed, and Hyuck couldn’t help but feel grateful for that.

“I’m sorry for the mess,” he said as they walked into the house and turned on the lights.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Hyuck caught Jeno’s surprised face, eyebrows raised as he took in the huge mess that was Hyuck’s new house. He had schooled his expression into something more neutral by the time Hyuck turned around to look at him, a pleasant smile gracing his lips, but Hyuck still felt somewhat embarrassed.

“I haven’t had the will to unpack everything yet,” he continued, awkwardly, feeling a blush creeping up his cheeks. “Or to clean,” he added, as he tried to discretely shove some empty boxes behind another, bigger and still full, one.

Jeno smiled, eyes once again disappearing into crescent moons.

“Don’t worry about it! I shouldn’t have come unannounced,” Hyuck shot him a weak, still embarrassed smile, trying to keep his eyes away from Jeno’s face. “Do you mind if I…?”

Hyuck looked up to see Jeno staring at him, unsure of what the other wanted to say. Jeno’s arm was extended, pointing towards the rest of the rooms, and Hyuck frowned.

“Oh. Oh, yes, of course!” He stammered, understanding lighting up his features. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll follow.”

“Great, thank you!” Jeno replied, before turning around on his heel and going deeper into the house.

It was a weird thing, the thought that a stranger might know your house better than you did yourself, Hyuck mused as he walked behind Jeno, closely following him. It made sense, he supposed. However long Jaemin and Jeno had been friends, the latter one must have surely come into Jaemin’s house at some point, and while Hyuck lived there in that moment, it hadn’t been long.

Jeno navigated his way through the house expertly, dodging the stray boxes that appeared on his way. Hyuck made a mental note to get rid of those as soon as he could. Not because he thought he might be getting many visits during his stay in the village, but because, now that there was someone else there, he was beginning to realize just the state the house was in.

Lost in thought, he didn’t realize Jeno had stepped into the kitchen until he heard him cooing out loud.

“Bongshik! There you! You had me so worried,” he cried out. Hyuck walked in behind him as Jeno carefully picked up his cat, holding her against his chest, one hand securing her, the other petting her behind the ears. “I am really sorry she came into your house, I’ll try to keep an eye on her next time,” Jeno said, turning around to look at Hyuck, the window behind him wide open.

“Don’t worry about, really.”

“Thank you for letting me into your house and I’ll leave you to it now because I’ve bothered you enough for the day.”

“I told you not to worry about it!” Hyuck protested, even as he let out a laugh at Jeno’s pout.

“I guess I’ll see you around,” Jeno said as they got to the door.

Hyuck opened it for him and leaned against the frame, pensively looking at Jeno’s face. His eyes wandered down to Jeno’s chest, and to Bongshik still carefully held there, cradled against his chest like she was precious. His smile grew.

“I guess you will,” he agreed and Jeno beamed.

He walked away with a little spring to his step, and Hyuck watched as he disappeared down the street, not at all endeared, and not at all excited at the idea of possibly meeting him again.

***

The next time Hyuck met Jeno was earlier than he had expected, not even twenty-four hours after their first meeting.

“I’m coming,” Hyuck all but shouted as he struggled to make his way down the corridor, trying to avoid all the boxes and objects littering the floor, and only half-succeeding at it. Groaning as he stepped barefoot on something, Hyuck opened the door. “Yes?” He asked, slightly annoyed, and unable to keep that from his tone. 

“Oh, hi,” said a voice, and Hyuck froze. He slowly rose his eyes from where he was inspecting his foot, and straightened himself when he met a familiar pair of eyes. “Did I come at a bad moment?”

Hyuck cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the embarrassment that was turning his cheeks pink.

“No, no, don’t worry. I was just trying to clean up a bit around here, it was time,” he replied, smiling. “Is there anything I can do to help you?” He continued, when he saw Jeno standing in front of him, not saying anything else.

Jeno blinked, and then seemed to remember what had brought him to Hyuck’s doorstep.

“Here. Take this. It’s for you!” As he spoke, he shoved a plastic bag towards Hyuck, who rushed to grab it, struggling a little bit so to as not let it fall to the ground.

“Thank you but, what is it?” He tried to take a peek at the bag’s content, but to no avail.

“It’s just a ‘thank you’ gift for letting me in to look for Bongshik and not getting mad at her. Or me,” Jeno replied, sheepishly.

“Jeno, I—“

“Please take it, Hyuck! It’s just food, because when I was in your kitchen I saw you didn’t have much there and take away is bad for your health!” Jeno rushed to add before Hyuck could refuse his gift. “I love cooking and I know it isn’t much but I wanted to give you something.”

“Jeno, there’s enough food here to keep me fed for a week, this is too much.”

“My mom always says I don’t know how to measure the quantities,” Jeno admitted, and Hyuck smiled at how cute he sounded, bottom lip jutting out. “But I swear it’s not much. And I swear it’s not poisoned,” he said, sounding like he was worried that was something that had thought Hyuck’s mind.

“I didn’t think it was poisoned, Jeno,” Hyuck replied, letting out a startled but amused laugh. He tilted his head to the side, smiling softly to himself as he stared at Jeno, standing on his doorstep. “Okey, I’ll take it,” he then said. Jeno’s face lit up visibly.

“Really?”

“But,” he continued, rising a finger, making Jeno look confused, “only if you come in and eat it with me.”

That seemed to startle Jeno, who looked at him like he had proposed something indecent. Hyuck’s smile grew as he watched him open and close his mouth several times, before, finally, nodding shyly in agreement. Moving aside, he let Jeno come in and closed the door behind him.

“I’m sorry for the mess,” he said as he navigated his way towards the kitchen. “I’ve been trying to clean this up but some of the boxes are too heavy for me to move comfortably to the side so I just left them wherever I could. A friend helped me move in but now I’m on my own and it’s harder than expected.”

“I can help you if you want,” Jeno said from behind him. Before Hyuck could turn around or even reply to him, Jeno was by his side, bending down to pick the box Hyuck was trying to jump over. "Where do you want this one?"

"There," Hyuck managed to reply after a few seconds of confusion. Jeno nodded and moved the box to the side, placing it on top of another one. "You don't have to do this," he said.

"I know but you look like you need help, and I don't mind giving it to you!" Jeno smiled. Hyuck's heart beat loudly in his chest, and he smiled too.

"Thank you, then."

They finally made it to the kitchen and Hyuck set the plastic bag on top of the counter. It required him to move some things to the floor, and he really wished Jeno wouldn't mind the state his house was in right then. It wasn't usually that bad, Hyuck liked to consider himself a clean person, but the past few weeks had been a nightmare, and he hadn't been in the right mood to do anything.

"Jeno, just how much food did you make!?" Hyuck asked, taking rows after rows of containers filled with food.

"It wasn't that much," he replied, scratching his neck. Hyuck shot him an unimpressed look, and Jeno turned his head down, biting his lip as if to prevent a smile. "Okey, I might have gone a little bit overboard but it wasn't my fault!"

"Are you implying it was mine?" Hyuck huffed, pretending to be mad.

"Well..." Hyuck turned around to stare directly a Jeno, eyes wide. Jeno's smile just grew, as bright and warm as the Sun. "It wasn't really your fault but you looked so lonely yesterday... And I'm always used to cooking for me and Jaemin when I try a new dish but he isn't around either, and I stress-cook when I'm sad so... It might have been a mixture of all those things."

Hyuck smiled sadly at him, understanding the feeling.

"I'm sorry Jaemin isn't here anymore," he said. 

Jeno shrugged, his smile a little strained around the edges.

"He got a great job offer in the city, it's only natural he left. And it's not like I won't see him at all, we speak every day and he will come often but it's just weird not to have him around."

"Yeah, I understand," Hyuck agreed, softly. His own words surprised him and by the look Jeno gave him, he wasn't expecting him to say anything either. "I don't have many friends but I am very close with those I have and I've been missing them dearly these past few days."

"I'm sure they'll come visit you soon," Jeno reassured him. Hyuck nodded, turning around to face the table once more, carefully angling his face away from the other.

"I'm sure they will. They're pretty busy right now though, so I don't know when that day will be," he said. He didn't really believe what he was saying, but Jeno didn't need to know that.

"And until then, you have me!" Jeno said, leaning on the table. Hyuck's smile turned warm again, as if Jeno himself had the power to push the sadness and bitterness away with only one smile in his direction.

"And you have me too," Hyuck agreed, resisting the impulse to rub Jeno's head like he was some cute, excited puppy. Instead, he opened one of the kitchen drawers. "Now, onto important matters." Lifting the sad remains of his cutlery, Hyuck turned to stare at Jeno. "I only have one teaspoon, three knives and a mismatched pair of plastic forks. What do you prefer?" At Jeno's expression and laugh, Hyuck felt the need to explain himself. "It's not my fault!" He cried out, even if he himself could barely keep the laughter from his voice. "I thought I had packed them all together but I am unable to find the rest of my cutlery, it has disappeared!"

"That is so sad, Hyuck," Jeno replied, a wide smile on his face. Pouting, Hyuck crossed his arms and scoffed. "Come on," Jeno gently pushed Hyuck towards the door.

"What are you doing?"

"You can't go on living with a teaspoon, two knives and a mismatched pair of plastic forks, we're going to go search for your missing cutlery."

Ignoring Hyuck's protests, Jeno continued nudging him forward, and finally, Hyuck relented, accepting Jeno's help. Truth be told, he missed having a complete set of cutlery, and the plastic forks were starting to break, so he shouldn't really complain. And maybe, just maybe, he had missed spending time with someone his age, and maybe, just maybe, he enjoyed Jeno's company and didn't really want him to leave. And so, if the search for Hyuck's lost cutlery was all that would take for Jeno to stay a bit longer, who was Hyuck to refuse?

***

"Hyuck, did you hear me?"

Humming absentmindedly, Hyuck lifted his eyes to look at Jeno, who had just walked into the room. As Jeno opened his mouth to say something, Hyuck brought a finger to his lips to ask for silence. 

Confused, Jeno scanned Hyuck's body, before finally settling on the sleeping cat curled up on Hyuck's chest. Jeno's eyes softened visibly and he smiled at Hyuck, to which Hyuck replied with a beaming grin.

Walking carefully so as to not make too much noise, Jeno approached the couch Hyuck was lying on.

"I was asking you what movie you wanted to watch," he repeated, quietly. 

Seol stirred in her sleep, and Hyuck grabbed Jeno's wrist, alarmed. They waited until Seol stopped moving, expectantly holding their breaths, and then Hyuck turned his head to look at Jeno. He tugged on his wrist to bring him closer until their faces were just a breath away, close enough for Hyuck to whisper into Jeno's ear.

"What do you want to watch?"

Jeno moved around until he was the one whispering into Hyuck's ear.

"Whatever you want. We can always turn the TV on and see what they're playing," he suggested.

It didn't sit well with Hyuck's stomach and he pursed his lips in distaste, before quickly wiping that expression away. It wasn't that he didn't like the TV but in the month or so he had been hanging out with Jeno, he had learned a thing or two about him: he had three cats that he completely adored and a younger brother that he loved only slightly less than his cats (just kidding, his cats were on a whole other level). He helped his family on the farm and loved to write, even had a couple of books published.

All those things added to the picture Hyuck had of Jeno but an important, crucial detail of it came from the fact that Jeno wasn't too fond of the TV, and rarely went on social media. It wasn't that Hyuck particularly liked that kind of people but rather than it meant Jeno truly didn't know who he was, hadn't been there for the shitshow that had happened just a few months back. It meant Hyuck could relax when they were together, not having to worry about what Jeno's true thoughts on the matter were and, more importantly, he was finally starting to ignore his phone, and what other's might be saying about him. 

It wasn't Jeno per se who had made him do that but spending time with him was more entertaining than scrolling down his timeline, refreshing the page to find loads of new comments criticizing him. And when he went back home, it wasn't the worry about what may come in the morning that kept him awake, but rather the soft smiles of a boy he hadn't expected to meet.

"Not the TV," he said then, breaking the silence. 

He must have spoken louder than he intended, or maybe he had moved around without noticing, but either way, Seol opened her eyes, wide awake, and jumped down from Hyuck's chest. Slightly disappointed, Hyuck sat up. It was only then that he realized he hadn't let go of Jeno's wrist. He did so, cheeks heating up in embarrassment, but before he could hide his hands away, Jeno intertwined their fingers, absentmindedly playing with them like it was something they did every day.

Hyuck took a deep breath and Jeno looked up, eyes wide open, as he continued to play with his fingers.

"Not the TV?" Jeno asked, picking the conversation where Hyuck had left it.

"No, I don't feel like it," Hyuck replied, focussing on his words and not on the feel of Jeno's fingers on his skin.

"That's fair, what do you want to watch then?"

"Do you think they'll have Frozen on Netflix?"

"I don't know but we can always find out," Jeno replied. 

Standing up, he offered Hyuck a hand and lifted him up and away from the warm embrace of the couch. Ignoring his soft whining, Jeno pushed him towards his bedroom, where Hyuck promptly claimed the left side of the bed as his, while Jeno set up the computer.

"You know, at first I wondered why you always chose musicals," he said, sitting down beside him. Hyuck looked up, humming, and waiting for Jeno to say something else. "But after I heard you sing for the first time it all made sense," he continued, with that eye smile Hyuck had grown to love.

Embarrassed, Hyuck hid his face in the crook of Jeno's neck, his breath tickling Jeno's neck and making him squirm.

"Thank you," he said quietly. He was used to having people complimenting his singing skills (he _was_ a singer, after all), but for some reason, having Jeno say it meant the world to him. "Let's play the movie," he added, rushing to hit play himself, before Jeno could have the chance to say anything else.

It was a movie he knew by heart, had watched it more times than he could count and, as minutes ticked by, he felt himself relaxing again, snuggled against Jeno's side. Singing to the songs came as to him as natural as breathing did, and he even got Jeno to sing with him at some points, even if Jeno turned beet red and stuttered while trying to resist Hyuck's advances.

Hyuck knew he had been born to stand on a stage, it was what he liked the most in the world but right then, lying on Jeno's bed with him while singing to a children's movie soundtrack, Hyuck felt like he could touch the stars.

***

Making sure Bongshik was safely held against his chest, Hyuck knocked on Jeno's door.

"Hyuck?" Jeno asked as he opened the door. "What are you...? Bongshik!" He cried out when he saw him holding his cat. "Did you run off again?" He continued, picking her up carefully and lifting her to look directly at her eyes. Bongshik let out a small meow, and Hyuck smiled at the picture cat and owner painted, the first being held like Simba, the second one pouting slightly. "I'm really sorry, Hyuck, come on in," Jeno apologized, moving aside to let Hyuck into his house. "I think my brother and his friend let the window open and I didn't even notice she was gone."

"Don't worry about it, I was just surprised when I came into the kitchen and saw her sitting on my table."

Letting Bongshik on the floor, Jeno closed the door behind Hyuck.

"Lele! Did you leave the window open?" Jeno screamed.

"No!" A chorus of voices shouted back.

"Then why did Hyuck just bring her back!"

There was a beat of silence when both of them waited for a reply.

"Sorry!"

Jeno rolled his eyes and Hyuck smiled sympathetically at him.

"They're probably too busy watching TV to notice anything else," Jeno groaned. "Come, I'll introduce you to them, and then we can go out or something, I need to buy groceries."

"Groceries, oh, how exciting, Jeno," Hyuck replied with a teasing smile. "You always take me on such amazing adventures."

"Shut up, Hyuck," was Jeno's answer, and Hyuck laughed. 

His laugh froze in his throat the second he stepped into the living room and saw the news playing on TV. It didn't take him more than a second to recognize the man on screen and know what they were talking about, despite the whole thing being on mute, and, judging by the face of the two teenagers sat on the couch, mouths hanging in shock, they had recognized him too.

"Lele, Sungie, this is my friend Hyuck," Jeno said then, completely oblivious to the way the ground had opened beneath Hyuck's feet, threatening to swallow him whole.

The boys looked from Hyuck to Jeno and back to Hyuck and Hyuck shook his head, desperately trying to convey without words his wish for them to stay quiet. One of the boys, whose eyes had doubled in size as he stared at Hyuck, opened his mouth to say something, but the other elbowed him rapidly in the ribs.

"So you are Hyuck, the new neighbour Jeno hasn't been able to shut up about for the last month and a half? I'm Chenle," he greeted Hyuck with an amicable smile. At the same time, he pinched his friend's side, prompting him to close his mouth.

"And I'm Jisung," he rushed to say, almost choking on air.

"It's nice to meet you, Jeno has told me a lot about you guys," Hyuck replied with a strained smile.

"Only good things, I hope," Chenle's words sounded almost choked, and Jeno eyed him suspiciously.

"You're behaving even weirder than usual, Lele. You too, Jisung," Jeno said, and Hyuck prayed he wouldn't turn around to look at him because he wasn't sure he'd be able to pretend like everything was fine.

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Jisung, a grin so wide it threatened to split his face in two. 

He looked a little bit like he was on the verge of a breakdown or maybe just shy of having his brain implode inside his skull. Hyuck looked at Chenle, worried as Jisung's face slowly turned red. He didn't even appear to be breathing.

"Jisung, are you alright?" Jeno asked, his voice suddenly filled with concern. Jisung nodded, still grinning like a madman, still turning red. His eyes were shiny, like they were brimming with unshed tears, and Hyuck thought it wouldn't take him much longer to break and spill everything.

Chenle seemed to believe the same thing as he turned to his brother, forcing him to stop looking at Jisung.

"He's fine! We're just playing a game. To see who can last the longest without breathing. Jisungie's doing great, don't you think? Aren't you, Sungie?" Chenle smiled, innocently, but his smile sent shivers down Hyuck's fine. 

Jisung nodded again, and Jeno took a step backwards.

"Okeyyyy," he replied slowly, looking from one boy to the other. "I swear you're just weird as fuck today but I think I'd rather not know. Hyuck, come with me and then we can leave," Jeno said as he turned to look at Hyuck.

Behind him, Chenle's eyebrows shot up to the sky and Jisung looked like he'd cry. Hyuck tried to school his expression into something neutral, and smiled at Jeno.

"Don't worry, I'll just stay here."

"Are you sure?" Jeno frowned, confused. Hyuck nodded, broadening his smile. He prayed he was any better of an actor than Jisung was.

"Yeah, I am. Maybe I can finally meet your brother, after all this time," he replied with his most innocent expression.

Jeno eyed him for a moment, as if he didn't believe his words, and finally shrugged.

"Suit yourself. I'll back in a minute. Don't scare him away," Jeno's last words were directed at both Chenle and Jisung as he left the room.

When the sound of his footsteps faded down the corridor and the door closed behind him, the three of them let out a collective breath of relief. Jisung coughed and Hyuck took a step closer to him, concerned.

"Are you alright?" He asked, laying a hand of Jisung's shoulder. 

The teenager froze under his touch, before shaking his head wildly. Worried he had done something wrong, Hyuck lifted his hand and took a step back.

"You're Donghyuck," Chenle said then, staring at him with his eyes wide open, and Hyuck whipped his head to look at him.

"I am," he replied carefully.

"But like. Donghyuck the famous singer that everyone and their mother knows, the one who suddenly went missing and no one fucking knew where he disappeared to," Chenle continued, like Hyuck hadn't said anything. He, like his friend, didn't seem to be breathing. "You are _that_ Donghyuck. And you're telling me you were living two streets away from me??? AND MY BROTHER DIDN'T TELL ME???" Chenle's voice rose as he spoke, becoming a deafening screech. Hyuck hushed him, turning around to look at the door, worried Jeno would choose that moment to walk back in.

"Don't scream," he hissed.

"Wait. Does Jeno not know who you are?" Jisung asked then. His voice was deeper than Chenle's, but he spoke so softly it was barely audible. Beside him, Chenle gasped and hit his arm, almost without noticing, causing Jisung to rub it with a grimace, lips pouting slightly.

"Trust my brother to not know he's friend's with a fucking superstar," Chenle groaned. "I knew he doesn't know much about celebrities but I thought even he would know about you."

"Well, he doesn't and it's going to stay that way," Hyuck threatened then, narrowing his eyes.

At that, Chenle's eyes lit up with a wicked gleam and he let out a cackle.

"Well, you're going to have to convince us if you want us to stay quiet. I can't just lie to my brother like that, you know..."

Hyuck let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I will give you an autograph and VIP tickets for my next concert if you don't tell Jeno a word of who I am and if you don't tell anyone I'm here," he said, causing both teens to look at him with twin expressions of surprise, their mouths hanging open. "Deal?"

Chenle seemed to want to say something about it but Jisung was faster.

"Deal deal deal!!" He all but screamed, hitting Chenle's leg repeatedly.

Hyuck let out a breath of relieved and smiled.

"I'll give them to you later on," he replied. "Thank you."

"You really don't want my brother finding out, huh?" Hyuck pressed his lips into a thin line, but didn't reply. Chenle shot him a sympathetic smile. "Look, man, I understand but I think you're going to have to tell him at some point. Have you watched the news lately?"

Suddenly worried, Hyuck frowned.

"No, why?" Chenle and Jisung exchanged a dubitative look, and Hyuck's apprehension grew. "Chenle, what happened?"

"They're going after Renjun now," Jisung answered, his tone cautious.

Hyuck felt himself paling.

"What," he whispered, all strength drained for him. “Renjun? Why?”

“Things went to hell after you disappeared, man,” Chenle replied, his voice suddenly more subdued. “They wouldn’t stop saying all kinds of shit about you,” Hyuck closed his eyes, not needing more information about it. He had read all those comments. “And then they went after Yukhei and Renjun just… Snapped.”

“Snapped,” Hyuck repeated, somehow managing to get the words past the lump in his throat.

“It was epic,” Jisung said then, eyes wide open, almost sparkling. Chenle shot him a worried and disapproving look, but Jisung didn’t notice. “He went off about how reporters had blown everything out of proportions and how none of you had done anything to deserve that.”

“In front of hundreds of cameras,” Chenle added. Hyuck gulped, feeling his throat parched.

“It was amazing,” Jisung continued like Chenle hadn’t said anything, a dreamy gleam in his eyes. “It went viral and all your fans and Renjun’s fan supported him but…”

Jisung went quiet, his voice becoming weaker with every word he spoke. Hyuck curled his lips into a bitter smile.

“But they’re after him now,” he finished the sentence for the boy, taking pity on his troubled expression. “Mark didn’t tell me any of this, why didn’t he?” He muttered to himself, even if the answer was obvious. He had gone off the radar to get away from everything and Mark, the saint that he was, had made sure to respect his wishes, even if Hyuck was sure it had meant he was dealing with a whole ton of shit too. “Goddamnit,” he groaned, pushing his hair away from his face. “Thank you for telling me this,” Chenle and Jisung nodded, their expressions unsure.

“What are you going to do?” Chenle asked in return.

Hyuck opened his mouth to speak but Jeno chose that moment to walk into the room, a bright smile on his face. Turning around to face him, Hyuck tried his best to mimic Jeno’s smile, taking in his friend’s face, like he was committing it to memory.

“Are you ready to go?” Jeno asked, eye smile in full display.

“Ready when you are,” he replied, hoping his voice wouldn’t betray his feelings.

Waving goodbye to the boys, they both left the house. Hyuck could feel Jisung and Chenle’s eyes glued to them, and sighed internally. He hadn’t gotten a chance to reply to Chenle’s question but he knew what he would do, what he had to do. 

There were a couple of hours left until that though, and he planned on taking advantage of them. Turning towards Jeno, who was lively chatting beside him, Hyuck smiled. He’d give himself a couple more hours of peace, of wonderful bliss, before calling Mark. A couple more hours by Jeno’s side and then…

_“Mark? I think I’m ready to go back.”_

***

Trying to steel his nerves, Hyuck took a deep breath. He had been standing still, rooted to the same place, for almost five minutes, and it was getting ridiculous. Night was falling and the wind was getting colder, and he really, really, shouldn’t be doing that to himself.

“You can do this, Hyuck,” he whispered to himself. The last few months had been horrible, and yet he had gotten over them. What he had to do then was considerably more simple but still, he found himself terrified. 

Letting his eyes wander, he spotted a small piece of paper lying on the floor, next to the door. It looked like a small envelope. Frowning, he crouched to pick it up, finding his name scribbled on the other side.

_It’s rude to keep people waiting~_

Hyuck huffed, amused, and his lips curved into the slightest of smiles.

_Good luck!! Fighting!!_

And beside it, a small drawing of a smiling sun.

Hyuck's smile grew wider, fonder, and pocketing the note, he finally took the last few steps that separated him from the door. Three quick knocks, and then he was left waiting, palms sweating nervously.

Seconds ticked by and Hyuck felt his nerves growing, threatening to choke him. He was about to turn around and leave when he heard the telltale sound of footsteps approaching and he froze, unable to move. The door opened, light pooling from the inside, bathing him in its warm glow.

For a moment, no one said anything. Hyuck didn't even dare to breathe, worried that the slightest of movements would be enough to break the illusion and the door would close on his face, once and for all.

But then there was movement and arms reaching out for him. Before he could even react, Hyuck was being dragged inside, squeezed against a broad chest, so tightly he could barely breathe, let alone move, but he wouldn't complain. Especially when he had thought he wouldn't ever be allowed to do something like that. 

"I hate you," came Jeno's muffled words, even if the way he held Hyuck against his chest betrayed them.

Feeling the sting of tears behind his eyelids, Hyuck snaked his arms around Jeno's body, burying his face in his neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and he hoped all the regret and pain and sorrow he felt bled into his words.

Jeno took a step back, finally disentangling their bodies. Hyuck mourned the absence of Jeno's warmth as soon as it was gone and was tempted to chase it back, but he knew they had to speak about it, about everything.

"A letter, Hyuck? Seriously?" Jeno asked. He tried to keep his voice cheery, but Hyuck could see it in his eyes that he had hurt him when he left. 

"I'm sorry," he repeated. He had a feeling he would be doing that quite often, at least for a while.

"I understand why you had to leave but you could have told me."

"I didn't know how to tell you," Hyuck replied. It sounded like an excuse, that much he knew, and he hated the words as soon as they left his mouth, but they were the truth. At least, they were a part of it.

"Talking would have been an option," Jeno's words made him grimace, and a twinge of regret seeped into Jeno's eyes at Hyuck's reaction. 

Closing his eyes, Jeno breathed in deeply, before signalling at Hyuck for him to follow deeper into the house. Jeno opened the door to his own bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, Hyuck cautiously sitting beside him.

"I swear I wanted to tell you," Hyuck said. "Well, not at first. I came here because I wanted to be away from everything and everyone and no one here seemed to know who I was so I didn't want to tell you, not at first," he admitted, purposefully keeping his eyes away from Jeno. He wasn't sure he'd be able to continue if he saw his face. "But then we started being friends and I kinda wanted to tell you who I was, but I also didn't know how to do it. I didn't want things to change between us," he whispered, risking a look at Jeno.

His heart threatened to leap out his throat when he found Jeno staring at him, his lips set on a sad line.

"I understand that, Hyuck. I promise I do, but I don't understand why I couldn't even get a proper goodbye when you left. You only left a note. I thought I deserved better than that."

Hyuck closed his eyes, trying to will the tears away.

"And you do, and I'm sorry, but I couldn't do it. I wanted to explain everything to you, but I couldn't do it."

"Why not?" Jeno's voice, full of hurt, was enough to break Hyuck's resolve.

"Because I wouldn't have been able to leave then, Jeno, and I had to," he replied, turning around to look a stunned Jeno in the eye. "I had to go help my friends that same day and if I had stayed to tell you everything, I wouldn't have been able to do it.”

Letting those words out was like taking a weight from his shoulders but as soon as they had left his lips, Hyuck froze, eyes wide open as realization at what he had said hit him like a truck. Jumping off the bed, Hyuck tried to leave, but before he could do it, Jeno's fingers were around his wrist, a warm cage keeping him locked in place.

Hyuck looked at his wrist and then at Jeno.

"Don't go," Jeno whispered. "Stay with time, please?"

Jeno's eyes were imploring as he stared at Hyuck, making his hands shake with nervousness, but Hyuck nodded weakly and sat back beside Jeno. He left enough space between them but Jeno moved closer, his arms around Hyuck's waist, like he was afraid he'd leave.

"I'm sorry you went through that, Hyuck. You didn't deserve it. None of you did," Jeno said.

Tentatively leaning his head on Jeno's shoulder and relaxing slightly when Jeno didn't push him away and instead threaded his fingers through his hair, Hyuck smiled bitterly.

"They didn't deserve it," Hyuck agreed. "It was my fault, but they didn't deserve it."

"Shut up, Hyuck," Jeno mumbled against Hyuck's hair, his lips pressed against the crown of his head. "It wasn't your fault, none of this was."

"If I hadn't gotten drunk, Yukhei wouldn't have had to carry me home and those reporters wouldn't have taken those pics of us and started a fucking affair scandal," Hyuck protested.

"You have as much right as any other person to go out and have fun and maybe even get drunk, Hyuck," Jeno replied, his words turning even more serious than before. "Yukhei was only being a good friend to you, the same way Renjun would have helped you or hell, even my brother! And it doesn't mean anything other than that! He was literally just helping you walk to your car! If those fucking vultures hadn't been stalking you and the general public wasn't so eager to jump onto the bandwagon hate, nothing like this would have happened. Where the fuck is that energy when actual criminals commit crimes? Why can't people go around freely or date or get drunk without having millions on people shitting on them but murderers get fucking fan clubs!?" Jeno's voice rose in volume, the indignation audible in his voice.

"It's the way it is," Hyuck replied, resigned to that particular reality of his life.

"Well, it shouldn't," Jeno contradicted him, and Hyuck smiled. "You're a singer, and that's honestly the only thing you owe your fans other than, you know, being a fucking decent human being at a basic level, you know? But they're not entitled to your life, they shouldn't try and control you like you're some toy. You're a singer, and a fucking amazing one for that, but you're not a robot, you're your own person and people should understand that."

Hyuck couldn't keep a wide grin from his face as he listened to Jeno's rambling. When the latter noticed, he abruptly stopped, cheeks dusted pink.

"What," he mumbled, suddenly shy and averting his gaze.

"You said I'm an amazing singer," Hyuck replied, smiling growing bigger. "A ‘fucking amazing one’, if I recall correctly. You've been listening to me sing, then?" He watched in delight as Jeno scrambled to form a coherent sentence, before settling on a curt, shy nod.

"My brother insisted on educating me and played me all of your music, he said that..." Jeno looked up briefly, before turning a darker shade of pink. "Nevermind," he said instead.

"What? What did he say?" Hyuck playfully asked, but Jeno refused to tell him.

"You know Renjun and Yukhei aren't upset with you, right?" He asked instead, startling Hyuck with the sudden change in topic.

"Yeah, I do. They've told me so a million times. How do you know, though?" Hyuck asked, narrowing his eyes. Jeno cleared his throat, flustered.

"I uh... Might have gotten a call from Renjun a few days back."

"You did? He never told me anything, the bastard," Hyuck grumbled.

"Yeah, he told me you didn't know anything. He apologized on your behalf," he continued, anticipating Hyuck's next question. "Said you'd come to explain everything soon."

"So this wasn't actually a surprise?" Hyuck pouted, and Jeno smiled softly. "No, but seriously, I'm really sorry about everything. I should have handled it better than I did.”

"Don't worry about it, Hyuck. I understand why you did what you did. Just don’t do it again," he implored.

"I promise I won't," he replied, setting his head once again on Jeno's shoulder. "I hated all of this when it happened but now I'm even kinda glad," he admitted, earning himself a surprised sound from Jeno. "Yeah, as weird as it sounds, I kinda am. I wouldn't have met you if not. And you're one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

Saying those words aloud made Hyuck’s insides twist with fear, worried that he might have overstepped the boundaries. He could stomach many things but the idea of losing Jeno… That one didn’t sit well with him.

Something warm brushed against his temple and he felt himself being softly pushed away from Jeno. He tried to keep his face turned away from him but Jeno curled his fingers around Hyuck’s chin and forced him to look up. Jeno’s eyes were slightly clouded and Hyuck’s heart thumped in his heart as he spotted something that looked very much like hope hidden there.

“Are you being serious?” Not trusting his voice, Hyuck nodded once. Jeno let out a shaky breath, the faintest trace of a terrified smile on his lips. “Do you want to know what Chenle told me?” Again, Hyuck nodded, if a little confused that time. “He told me he couldn’t allow me being the kind of person who doesn’t know what his boyfriend is doing,” he whispered, his voice terribly soft, almost fragile. Hyuck couldn’t move and Jeno’s expression crumbled a little. “Did I read this wrong?”

Not trusting his own voice, Hyuck shook his head. Slowly, as if they were afraid they’d scare the other away, both oh them inched closer, their lips almost touching, their breath’s mixing together. Hyuck felt like he’d might die of happiness and Jeno did too.

Jeno finally moved, pressing their lips together in a kiss that was too brief for both of their likings but before either of them could deepen it, Jeno moved away, pupil’s blown wide, cheeks blushed.

“Will you stay? Even for a little while?”

Hyuck smiled. It’d be hard, he knew that, but he also knew they’d make it work.

“Of course, I’ll stay, for as long as you want me to,” he replied, pressing a kiss to Jeno’s lips, feeling happier than he’d been in months.

**Author's Note:**

> And this is it for today! I really hope you've enjoyed it! I've been writing more fluff than it's usual in my lately but don't worry, we shall get back to our angsty programming once xmas is over jsjsjsjs I don't know when, but I have a couple of projects in mind so :D  
> I really hope you've enjoyed this, and I will be back soon(ish)!  
> Kudos and comments warm my heart <3
> 
> [tw](https://twitter.com/starryjinsouls) || [cc](https://curiouscat.me/Val_99)
> 
> \- Val


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